1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a check-out device for performing registration of purchased articles according to the article codes recorded thereon in a machine-readable form and, more particularly, to a check-out device wherein a customer participates in the process of inputting the article codes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A check-out device is installed in, for example, a supermarket as a self-service check-out counter. A customer puts articles he or she wants to purchase in a shopping cart, brings them to an input section of the check-out device, and depresses a start button on a customer operation panel of the input section so as to start registration of the articles. Thereafter, the customer lifts an article out of this cart, places it in front of an article code reader or a scanner of the input section in order for the article code affixed thereto to be input by means of a scanning operation performed by the scanner, and sets the read article on an entry conveyer provided above an electronic weigh scale. The scanner optically scans the article to read the article code thereof, and supplies the read article code to an electronic cash register spaced away from the input section. The electronic weigh scale measures the weight of the article set on the entry conveyer, and supplies a result of the measurement as measured weight data to the electronic cash register. The electronic cash register has an article data table containing article data of all the articles for sale, each of which is constituted by an article code, article name data, price data, and reference weight data, for example. The electronic cash register uses the read article data, the measured weight data, and the article data table to determine that the article whose article code is read by the scanner has definitely been set on the entry conveyer, and also uses the read article code to register the article as a purchased article after the determination. The article is conveyed from the entry conveyer to an outfeed conveyer after the determination, and then conveyed to a bagging area by means of the outfeed conveyor and an inclined chute. After scanning of all the articles to be purchased, the customer depresses a stop button on the operation panel to finish the article registration, at which time the electronic cash register performs settlement of the purchased articles with reference to the article data table. A cashier informs the customer of the total cost of the purchased articles obtained in the settlement, and stores the cash paid by the customer in a drawer of the cash register. After payment, the customer places the articles in the bagging area in a bag, and takes them away.
A process of the aforementioned determination is performed every time the electronic weigh scale measures the weight of an article. In this process, the cash register receives the measured weight data supplied from the electronic scale and data of the read article code supplied from the scanner, and checks whether the article code is correctly read or not. When it is correctly read, the measured weight data is compared with reference weight data of an article specified by the article code. If both the weight data coincide, the specified article is registered as a purchased article, using the read article code.
In the check-out device described above, the customer takes a task of inputting article codes of the purchased articles by means of the scanner, and the cashier takes a task of operating the cash register to process the input article codes. Therefore, the amount of time the customer is kept waiting without doing anything is shortened in comparison with the case where the cashier takes the task of inputting the article codes and the task of operating the cash register. The cashier's workload is reduced by the customer's cooperation. In addition, a use of the scanner prevents input errors such as occur in key operations for inputting the article codes. Thus, the problem of long queues of customers waiting at check-out counters is largely alleviated. Further, whether or not an article whose article code has been read and an article on the entry conveyor are the same, is checked by comparing the weight data, thereby preventing dishonesty by customers. Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 1-52794 discloses a device similar to the above-described check-out device.
However, the customer sometimes goes away from the input section of the check-out device to do something else for a while before finishing registration of all the articles to be purchased. In such a case, the cashier has to move to the input section to operate the stop button for the customer. If one cashier is in charge of a plurality of check-out lanes, the cashier's workload is increased in the movement to the input section.